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Coldest riding temps...

L

lastsix

Guest
What are the coldest temperatures you are willing to hit the road in? I'm heading to Arkansas for the holidays and debating whether to take the bike. They were predicting snow but it changes from day to day. If it looks clear and in the 40s I'll be taking the RT.
 
I rode at 15 degrees the other day. It's doable with the heated gear. There are other annoyances that come with it like the fog up of the visor and sunglasses. If there is snowbanks and some freeze/thaw going on I usually pass and wait for better/safer weather. Gary
 
I've ridden in the teens with heated gear, but I've had more enjoyable rides. With temps in the 30's, I'd give it a go if you have heated gear and/or a heated seat (Wow, what a diff it can make). If no heated gear or seat, and temps are in the 40's, and the roads are dry, I'd definitely do it!
 
-10F back in my younger days to and from work and distances less than 30 miles.

With a heated vest, 22F on a 340 mile day trip.

As always, with the right gear, any ride is enjoyable.
 
Some behaviors constitute their own punishment; I count riding a motorcycle in temps below +20 among them. I've ridden snow machines in temps of -30 many times, but the speeds are lower, the dress is warmer and falling off does not hurt as bad.
 
I get concerned once its getting below freezing. Not so much from the comfort standpoint but because the slipping and crashing on ice becomes a greater possibility.
 
I have rode in below zero fahrenheit. I just put on extra layers to stay warm. I don't leave home if the roads are slick anymore. I do ride on cold roads as if they have less traction than in the rain. No aggressive cornering or braking. Fog free visors are a must to enable you to see the road conditions far enough ahead of you. My Pinlock visor starts to fog up at around 10f depending on the humidity in the air. I'm hoping to ride to Michigan next week & I'll be shopping for a Snowmobile helmet with a electric heated visor. That will be my first venture into anything electric for me.:bikes
 
My cutoff is +20F and dry. I commute with light winter gear at those temps, but if I am going to be out for more than 30 minutes I pull out the electric / heavy gear. Below 20 becomes a simple endurance match for me and the ride is no longer enjoyable.
 
My suggestion is to try it experimentally. I rode in 19 F dry weather for a test. I went out and was cold, came back, etc., until I found what worked. My last addition was a ski neck/face sock since my chin was freezing. Once I had the bugs worked out, including some boot warmers, I was fine for the day.
 
15 in Texas

Marathon, Texas, I camped in my frozen tent to 15 degrees out. My coldest camp and ride of recent memory. GSA1200 did not want to start, but I got her going. Electric vest(Gerbings new microwire) and grips are just barely enough, but worked well to keep me fresh. The new vest actually gets toasty and the body core kept warm seems to keep the extremities happy for a while. In 1970, I rode 32 miles to work at 4 degrees and only a snowmobile suit, which is quite adequate for its purposes. Biking is not one of them at speed anyways. I was a frozen mess, having to pry myself from the bike. The above Texas sure gets cold at night, but by midmorning, everything is happy again if the sun is shining. Randy
 
Dumb sh__ __ college days

Yeep, worst story was going from Gunnison, Colo. to Salida over Monarch Pass in the winter on a Hodoka Ace 90. A friend had my car and I had to pick it up so. . . minus teens in temp leaving Gunnison with snow on Monarch and it warmed up. I had to get help unbuckling my helmet as my fingers couldn't do it. My knees where so cold they wouldn't straighten. I would bet there are great stories like that. The older we get the more heated equipment we get. In my college days we had army field jackets with mittens and whool liners, climbing boots with snow gators we used for cross-country skiing worked for the speeds of a Hodaka. Now my wife and I can handle 30's okay with all our correct gear and those wonderful heated hand grips.
 
have ridden as low as 16 with heated gear.
as long as the road is dry I haven't really found my stop riding temperature.
 
Met up with an lifetime Gal Pal for a H-D ride a few years back...22 degrees as I headed east to meet her...found her at the highway intersection bundled up on her bike, she left with temps in the teens...NO gear then other than long john synthetics and many layers. If it weren't for the H-D Hollywood Green (Baby Blue) bike she was on, wouldn't have recognized her with scarf and ten layers of clothes:doh We still rode all day in the low 30's:buds

Now, have gear for about anything...down to 20 without rain I am great, my feet need some help...anywhere near freezing and rain...I'm parking it! We got caught on McDonald Pass in Montana last June in the rain and snow...28 degrees at the top...but the road was not frozen!
 
Yeep, worst story was going from Gunnison, Colo. to Salida over Monarch Pass in the winter on a Hodoka Ace 90. A friend had my car and I had to pick it up so. . . minus teens in temp leaving Gunnison with snow on Monarch and it warmed up. I had to get help unbuckling my helmet as my fingers couldn't do it. My knees where so cold they wouldn't straighten. I would bet there are great stories like that. The older we get the more heated equipment we get. In my college days we had army field jackets with mittens and whool liners, climbing boots with snow gators we used for cross-country skiing worked for the speeds of a Hodaka. Now my wife and I can handle 30's okay with all our correct gear and those wonderful heated hand grips.

You brought back memories with the Ace-90 story (first bike I owned..)

Not long after that era, my winter riding gear was a surplus sheepskin WW-II aviators full suit.

Step-in sort of suit, much like an Aerostitch Roadcrafter 2 piece, leather outside, natural sheepskin inside. I could ride my '74 Norton Commando Mk-III the 20 miles to work (at around 70MPH) in temps down to ~30F. I was somewhat cold when I got there, but not due to core temps - more due to cold hands. Gauntlets weren't that protective then, and no one had thought of hand-guards.

Did that for several winters. Looked a bit odd when I walked into Bell Labs in the suit and started taking it off as I walked through the lobby, but there were lots of odd people there, so it wasn't too unexpected.

One day the suit just sort of fell apart - large chunks started falling off it. Since it was older then I was at the time, it shouldn' t have been a big surprise.

What it looked like (this one is exactly the same):

joeinflightsuitopt.jpg


Actually - if someone made this today, with some armor.. hmmm..
 
My coldest temperature ride was 14°F but only about 15 miles. No heated gear but the old RT fairing seems to be pretty effective at blocking the cold. Tires felt hard even at the end of the ride and the bike was hard to start after sitting outside my office all day.
 
Aviator suite

Man, that would have felt like heaven with that aviator suite. The field jacket had great buttons up the neck and sleeves and tighten up the waste. I wore a whool sweater underneath and I had whool navy pants that buttoned up the front in an upside down U weird but warm with long handles. Ace 90 always required extra spark plugs especially going down Monarch. Chin would get cold also. I remember sitting in a bath tub and a friend giving me shoots of wiskey but I couldn't stop shaking. Now it is too easy and really the only thing that stops me is ice or snow on the road.
 
Mebbe we should forward the pic of the aviator suit to Andy at RiderWarehouse.. ;) Imagine it with a Goretex liner, and a heated jacket liner.. HEAVEN!
 
In the dept of they did Everest with wool and not goose down and Gortex-I still use canvass outside, wool inside, bib overalls my father brought home from WWII Navy. Not much of a fashion statement but neither am I. Some of that old clothing was amazingly effective and very durable.
 
20's

Coming back from Orlando first of December to KS, was caught in the cold weather that week, left Jasper, AL on 6 Dec, it was 23*, got to 41* by the time I got to Little Rock. That's about as cold as I will go, gets to a point where it isn't much fun. When I look at a cager and wished I was in there with them, it's too cold!!
 
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